Paterson Healing Collective launches scholarship to honor Najee Seabrooks
PATERSON — The Paterson Healing Collective is holding a basketball fundraiser this weekend designed to raise money for a scholarship fund honoring Najee Seabrooks, who was shot and killed by police on March 3.
When: The fundraising event will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at Paterson’s Eastside High School, with tickets costing $5. The Healing Collective has said its goal is raising $20,000 for the scholarship fund.
Who was Najee? Seabrooks was one of the stars on Eastside’s state championship team about a decade ago and eventually played for a small college in California.
After being shot in an unsolved crime in Paterson’s 4th Ward two years ago, he became one of the Healing Collective’s victim clients and later joined the group’s payroll as a violence intervention specialist.
Hourslong confrontation: Seabrooks was killed as he charged toward Paterson police officers wielding a knife after a standoff in a city apartment that lasted almost six hours. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office is investigating the shooting and has not announced whether it was justified.
Aftermath: City activists have called for the terminations of the police officers involved, saying the incident underscored the need for revised tactics in dealing with people going through emotional disturbances or drug-induced crises.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Najee Seabrooks scholarship fund basketball fundraiser Paterson NJ
